


Rain

by snowingphoenix



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Romance Novel, Boys In Love, Denial of Feelings, Dorms, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Loss of Virginity, M/M, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, Oh My God, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Sexual Content, Sexual Fantasy, Sexual Frustration, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Teen Angst, cant belive im doing this, sorry if it sucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-04 02:09:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1762577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowingphoenix/pseuds/snowingphoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rain brings new curiosities. For Reiner, it was his sexuality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First time fanfic writer here! I'm just testing the waters, I really love this pairing and I hope you guys like their story!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bertholdt’s usually stoic and apathetic surprises him on a rainy day.

“It’s raining Reiner.” Bertholdt Hoover stood in front of his and his roommate’s dorm window. His roommate, Reiner Braun lazily sat on the couch, mechanically clicking through the tv channels which showed nothing but reality TV garbage.

“It’s raining,” Bertholdt repeated. “Which means it won’t be a good day for football practice I guess.” Reiner seemed indifferent to Bertholdt and kept clicking through the stations. “It also means the science fair in the pavilion is canceled. Just another boring day at home.” Bertholdt was looking forward the science portion of Trost College’s week long academic fair. For once, sports and activities that required much movement and upper body strength were not the prime focus of the school. At least for one week academics took its place from literature to history to sciences- Bertholdt’s favorite. But Mother Nature had denied whatever was in store for him and the rest of his human anatomy class. He knew his professor Ms. Hanji, defiantly was the most excited.

Mother Nature also had forced him to spend the rest of the day with his apathetic, popular and football star roommate Reiner Braun. Literally the only words Reiner had said to him from the time they became roommates was “So you’re my roommate huh. You’re really tall. And tan.”

And that was it. Occasionally there would be some “Mornin’s” (not without Bertholdt initiating them) and “Yo can you help me with this?” (Mostly about homework. Bertholdt would usually end up doing most or all of the assignment). Other than that, any conversations would be between Bertholdt and himself. Or if any of Reiner’s football buddies came over things would get loud and rowdy after a couple beers. Bertholdt was never in the room when Reiner’s friends were over. He didn’t want it to get awkward and besides it was like they were from two different worlds; them being jocks and him being what would be classified as a nerd. As far as he saw it, college was just accelerated high school.

3 months into the school year and Bertholdt still had no idea how to handle being in the same room as Reiner. He had to admit despite the fact that Reiner was kind of a douche he was pretty ripped. From his biceps and triceps and other muscles he could not name he was the epitome manliness. If his football gig didn’t work out he could always be a model for Abercrombie and Fitch.

Not only Reiner’s physique fascinated Bertholdt, but his facial features were close to perfect. His smallish amber eyes were more noticeable than Bertholdt’s regular sized green eyes. His nose was broad but fit on his square face; Bertholdt’s nose was huge and took up most of his long oval face. His blonde hair was short but perfectly cut and took off some of his sort of big forehead. Bertholdt…just didn’t like his hair. It was easy to see why so many girls threw themselves at him. Yet Reiner remained single and claimed he was for a while. His last girlfriend was Krista Lenz- a petite blue eyed almost doll like girl who everyone adored. And it wasn’t fake or jealous admiration- one couldn’t simply hate her because she was too sweet.

Bertholdt wished he had the same charm as her. Everyone did. Reiner and Krista seemed to be the perfect couple- until they broke up mid-senior year of high school. Many blamed it on Reiner being too much into his sport than her. Others said that the sex between them was bad; Reiner’s giant body was too much for Krista tiny one. But possibly the most true rumor was that Krista’s long time friend Ymir did everything in her power to crush their relasionship because she had strong feelings for Krista. The rumors proved to be more accurate when Krista showed up to the prom with Ymir as her date (they met during the prom to be together since they had to have a date of the opposite sex). Whatever it was, it did not hamper their friendship; they still talked from time to time.

Bertholdt decided to keep himself occupied since talking to Reiner or himself would lead to the same result- boredom. He tried baking cookies but they were out of eggs. He tried reading a book but he had read all the books on his reading list and was not interested in any new ones at the moment. He tried listening to music. That went well for about a half hour but then he got bored again. So, as an act of desperation, Bertholdt decided to clean the dorm- because someone had to do it and it wasn’t going to be Reiner.

From the bathroom to the bedroom to the kitchen, their doom was a mess. Bertholdt sure had a huge job on his hands. But the rain did not seem to let up soon so he took the time factor out of it and decided to just do it and get it over with. Cleaning the bedroom was pretty easy, though Reiner’s side was a lot messier than Bertholdt’s. The bathroom was a challenge but he got that done relatively quickly. The kitchen was surprisingly a piece of cake (no pun intended). The last place to clean was the living area where Reiner spent most of his time. In order to properly clean the area, Reiner had to move from the couch and by the way he sat, slouched like a potato on the couch and arms leaned back on the head rest, it seemed like he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Bertholdt tried to get the message to him at first by dropping small hints. He approached the couch slowly and began dusting it and with each wipe moved closer to Reiner. It got up to Reiner’s ear and Bertholdt waited to see if he would move. But Reiner did not move one bit and Bertholdt either had to say something or try another method. He chose the latter.

Next, he wiped around the television, where all of Reiner’s attention was focused on. He figured if he blocked the TV somehow, Reiner would move and watch TV somewhere where he wouldn’t be interrupted. Bertholdt went closer and closer to the screen and still Reiner wouldn’t move.

“Is he alive?” Bertholdt thought. He went as far as wiping the screen itself. Suddenly the beast was awakened; Reiner sighed and shifted his position slightly. Instead of slouching he lay on his back on the couch and took the remote controller to take off the TV. He then closed his eyes and began to sleep.

Bertholdt couldn’t believe what Reiner just did. He made things even more difficult for him now. His only hope of properly cleaning the living area now was to actually tell Reiner to move out of the way.  
Bertholdt gave a deep sigh and said quietly, “Um, Reiner I don’t know if you noticed but I’m cleaning this area around here. Do you mind moving to the bedroom or something until I’m done? I’m done cleaning in there so you wouldn’t be disturbed.” Reiner gave a little response, but it wasn’t the one that Bertholdt wanted. All he did was turn from his back onto his side to make himself more comfortable. Bertholdt decided to say it a little louder- and more forceful.

“Reiner, I am cleaning the living area. Can you please move to the bedroom so I clean properly?” Once again, Reiner gave no reply. There was only so much Bertholdt could take. As a relatively easy going, nice guy he had high tolerance for almost anybody he came across. But even nice guys have their limits. This was it. It was time Reiner gave Bertholdt the respect and attention he deserved.

Just as Bertholdt opened his mouth to tell Reiner off, Reiner spoke as if he knew he was about to dodge a barrage of lectures from his roommate. “Yo, Bertl, can you come a little closer? I can’t hear anything you’re saying right now.” Many things instantly went through Bertholdt’s head when Reiner spoke;

“ _Is he fucking with me right now? He’s probably gonna give me a wet wily or something.”_

_“I haven’t heard him in ages….was his voice always that deep?”_

_“Oh I’ll get closer alright. Close enough to sock you in the face.”_

Bertholdt pushed his thoughts aside and reluctantly obeyed Reiner. “Closer,” Reiner commanded. Bertholdt rolled his eyes and got even closer to Reiner, still turned on his side. He was now hovering over him. “Closer…” Reiner practically whispered. Bertholdt didn’t know how to get closer to him without it being slightly awkward. Maybe Reiner wanted it to be awkward? Why would Reiner want that; he barely talks to him anyway. Whatever the reason, Bertholdt disregarded it for the moment and got closer- his body was pressed against the couch and there was literally no space between him and Reiner.

“Is there anything else,” Bertholdt tried to make his tone as sarcastic as he could. Reiner smirked and said “Yeah, bend down so we could be eye to eye.”  
Bertholdt didn’t know what to expect from the blonde man before him; he was always aloof and distant but now he was just be enigmatic. Bertholdt remained still to see if Reiner would move- and he did. He turned back on his back and looked straight up at Bertholdt. Their eyes met at the same moment and Bertholdt felt a chill down his spine. Reiner’s eyes were even more beautiful up close. He still had a devilish grin on his face which in Bertholdt’s eyes made him look even more desirable. Bertholdt shook his head. No way could he fall for this asshole.

Yet he seemed to fall under his spell and slowly leaned in towards him. They were inches away from each other- their lips could easily touch. Bertholdt still wanted an answer to this change in behavior however.

“What do you want me to repeat again,” he said breathily. He didn’t realize this was his tone of voice and it made him sound like he wanted Reiner. Reiner, still with the same grin on his face simply replied “Nothing.”

And just like that Reiner’s lips touched his.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woahhh they're kissing already what is this

A million things went through Bertholdt’s head at once as the unexpectedly soft lips of his gruff roommate meshed with his. He could not comprehend how or why it happened but it was happening and he seemed to have no control over it. He wondered if it were some kind of sick fantasy. A wet dream maybe? But it felt all too real.

Reiner’s lips continued the explore Bertholdt’s and he even moaned a bit to get Bertholdt to react more. Bertholdt struggled on whether he should kiss back or not; although Reiner seemed to handle this well enough on his own, it must be awkward kissing someone who didn’t kiss back. Bertholdt knew if he did kiss back, he would be accepting Reiner and become submissive to whatever he had planned next. But he did not want this to go so fast…whatever _this_ was and decided to pull away as soon as he had the chance.

Bertholdt gasped louder than he intended and heard the soft pants of Reiner who did not expect such a violent reaction.

“What are you doing,” the blonde man said breathlessly.

“What am I doing,” Bertholdt replied, with a look of disbelief. “What are _you_ doing?! What even was that??”

Reiner played it coy and sat upright on the couch facing Bertholdt who, when he reacted fell back so he landed promptly on the ground. “C’mon don’t be so bashful Bertl. It’s just a stupid guy thing. Just go with it.” _Just go with it._ The phrase echoed in Bertholdt’s head. How could he go with something so absurd? He knew Reiner had no interest in him. He knew he wasn’t gay. At least he assumed. He had to be fucking with him.  He had to stop this before it got any farther.

“Just quit it Reiner.” Reiner gave Bertholdt a look of innocence in response.  “I know what you’re trying to do. Just stop I’m not playing your mind games.” Bertholdt’s face was stern and for once he felt like he had all of Reiner’s undivided attention. 

Reiner played it off again by chuckling and saying “Dude chill, I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re bored, I’m bored. It’s just something to pass the time with. No one has to know, no one is gonna know. Like I said, it’s just a dumb guy thing.” 

“Randomly kissing your roommate who you never ever talk to unless its school related is just a dumb guy thing? It’s just something to pass the time with? Jeez, I never knew how delusional you could be.”

Reiner, somewhat offended by Bertholdt’s sudden assertiveness, simply scoffed at him. “Whatever man. You’re too damn uptight. If only you’d loose up then both of us probably would’ve been having fun right now.”  Bertholdt’s face became softer from Reiner’s words. His face was hard but his voice seemed somewhat disappointed. Not fake disappointment either.

 

 “Whatever,” Reiner repeated. “Ima let you clean like a French maid I guess. Take your time cuz I’ll probably in the bedroom for the rest of the night.”

With that Reiner got up and went into his side of the bedroom, closed the door and slept for the rest of the day. Bertholdt cleaned the living area within minutes then sat down on the couch replaying Reiner’s sudden kiss over and over in his mind. His lips were a lot softer than he imagined.  He felt his hand moving upwards to his neck and his tongue fought to enter Bertholdt’s mouth.  If he had kissed back, the kiss probably would’ve been the best Bertholdt’s had- then again it’s not like there was much competition; Bertholdt’s only other kiss came from a childhood friend of his when he was 10. They had confessed their “love” for one another during one summer and met in secret to do “Boyfriend-boyfriend things” which consisted of watching a movie and kissing each other on the cheek or for a second on the lips. Bertholdt was devastated when his friend had to move away and for a while remained alone.

He had no other close friends since then; the closest person he had to a friend was Annie Leonhart, a tough blonde that no one dared to mess with since she was so intimidating. The two met during orientation- some guys had tricked Bertholdt into going into a student prohibited part of the campus and when Bertholdt figured out that he had been tricked he found the guys, horribly beaten up by Annie who said he was stupid for listening to them. Ever since then Annie often gave Bertholdt advice and protected him from time to time- not without insulting him at first.  Annie knew Reiner from high school and warned Bertholdt that he was a shady guy. Bertholdt always thought that she was saying that out of spite against him- but as always, she was right.

Bertholdt wondered if he should tell Annie about this, but as he reached for his cell phone Reiner’s words of “ _No one has to know, no one is gonna know”_ came to mind and he stopped immediately. This wasn’t something he couldn’t handle on his own. He didn’t need to go to Annie every time he had a small dilemma. Tomorrow, he was going to get some answers.

***********

“Mmmph…” Reiner woke up groggily to bright morning sun which shone on his face. The rain had stopped by now but not without leaving mini streams and lakes all over campus. The field was probably beyond soaked- so most likely practice would be canceled again.

Bertholdt smiled at the picturesque morning that lay ahead of him. He was most definitely a morning person; unlike most people he saw the morning as a reset and a new start to someone’s day. You get another chance to fix anything you messed up on or do anything you wanted to do before, that you didn’t get a chance to do. It’s also a chance to leave anything you didn’t like about yesterday in the past. But Bertholdt could not bear with the lone significant event that occurred yesterday afternoon. Before Reiner and he were off to their classes, he was going to ask Reiner more about his peculiar actions yesterday. He was going to be bold and assertive. He was going to be firm.

The large hunk of a man stumbled out of the bedroom as Bertholdt prepared breakfast. He went straight for the couch, as if there were a magnetic force that pulled him towards it. This was Bertholdt’s chance; before Reiner got sucked into the world of morning television, he had to talk to him. He put the stove on low, walked over to the living area, and sat down a few inches away from Reiner who was about to turn on the television.

Bertholdt had no idea where to go from here as he and Reiner sat in an awkward silence. For once, Reiner decided to start the conversation. “Yeah….so….it stopped raining….” He uttered.  Bertholdt gained sudden confidence from Reiner’s lack thereof and took the conversation from there. But he didn’t want to prolong it, he didn’t want to repeat himself or beat around the bush. He was going to get right to the point, so the awkwardness wouldn’t last that long for both of them.

“Reiner, are you gay?” Reiner was taken aback by this sudden question from his once reserved roommate. He didn’t know if he should react to it as if he was greatly insulted (which would be in bad taste considering that Bertholdt was gay) or just stay silent. But if he were silent, Bertholdt would get the idea that he was gay and he would have to deal with whatever barrage of questions that followed.

“E-Excuse me,” was Reiner’s final answer. “I’ll say it again: Reiner, are you gay? As in homosexual gay, in case you’re confused.”

“Yeah I know what you mean. Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“Well I figured it would be an appropriate time since you randomly kissed me yesterday and your only explanation was, it’s just a dumb guys thing.”

Reiner groaned. “Still on this are you Bertl? If you wanted another chance why didn’t you just ask?” Reiner grinned devilishly at Bertholdt who was not smiling. He was getting rather frustrated.

“Stop avoiding my question,” He said even sterner that he did before. 

“I’m not avoiding it,” he replied. “I’m ignoring it.”

Bertholdt wanted to be confrontational. He wanted to yell right in his face and tell him how much of a douche he was. If he was strong enough, he wanted to punch him. But his high tolerance got the better of him and all his anger was let out with a long sigh.

“Reiner, if you are I won’t tell anyone. Sexuality is a tricky thing. You’re most likely struggling with some homosexual urgencies and it’s quite normal in young adult mal-“ 

Reiner got up from the couch abruptly and cut Bertholdt off mid sentence. He had heard enough. “Listen man I ain’t struggling with nothing ok? I like girls ok man?? I just thought you would like me kissing you yesterday since you’re gay! I thought you wouldn’t have a problem with it! But I guess your head is too much up your ass and kissing for fun just isn’t your style. Well fine. I won’t do it again. But let’s just drop this whole gay thing alright? Because I’m not.”

Reiner stared at Bertholdt for a few more seconds to see if he would respond, but he stayed silent and simply nodded.  “Cool.” Reiner replied. Seeing that there was nothing left to be said, Bertholdt got up from the couch and resumed making breakfast. Reiner had avoided a bullet. Or so he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you probably thought there was gonna be smut in this chapter. Or not. Either way there isn't. I realized I made Bertholdt kinda sassy. I like sassy Bertholdt.  
> So yay more character development ~ Lemme know what you think so far, and thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bertholdt gets some advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annie being somewhat of a motherly dick to Bertholdt is kind of a thing with these fics so ima try my hand at it ~

It was a bright and sunny day. After being subject to boring lectures and pointless work all morning, Bertholdt decided to take it easy at the coffee shop on campus. The coffee shop was notorious for not their coffee but for their chill atmosphere and live jazz band which only played after 6:00 pm. It was always packed from dawn to dusk and conveniently opened 24 hours in case students who had all nighters wanted a desperate relief for their sleepy tendencies. The coffee shop was indeed the embodiment of all things relaxing and cool about being an independent college student and anyone who worked there got instant respect from everyone who walked in.

All Bertholdt wanted to do is stay out of his dorm and away from Reiner for as long as possible. Reiner confused him greatly. He was pretty sure that Reiner confused himself greatly. All of a sudden this man who had no interest in him whatsoever begged for his lips and expected him to ok with it. Then when he Bertholdt tried to get to the bottom of it he reacted with shock and somewhat disgust to the question regarding his sexuality. Before Bertholdt had asked if Reiner was gay or not he was 80% sure that he wasn’t and he would just play it off or play along. After seeing his reaction however, his opinion changed. Right now, it could go either way.

But then again why was it any of Bertholdt’s concern anyway? Let Reiner deal with whatever issues he had. Let Reiner and his friends (if they cared to ask) handle it. He wasn’t Reiner’s friend or therapist. He was simply his roommate which he chose to ignore instead of get to know. If Reiner tried it again, Bertholdt would not play along. In fact, Bertholdt should ignore him now- show him how it felt for 3 agonizing months. Plus he had a reason to. Just when Bertholdt was going to make up his mind, Annie his voice of reason walked into the shop and spotted him immediately. She wasn’t going to sit there without his permission. “ _Should I let her in on this,”_ Bertholdt wondered. He was making a big change and usually every big decision he made he ran by Annie first. She was like his mom away from home. A mom who displayed nothing but tough love.

She walked by his table apprehensively and as she passed by Bertholdt nodded at her, giving her permission to sit with him. They sat quietly for a few minutes, drinking coffee and just observing the crowd of people who walked in and out of the shop. The silence was broken by Annie who asked a peculiar but relevant question. “Do you like who you are Bertholdt?”

Bertholdt sipped his coffee a little slower after this sudden question. “What about me do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Its either you like everything about you or you don’t. No in-betweens.”

No in-betweens, a classic Annie phrase. Unknown to Annie, Bertholdt would write down a couple of Annie’s phrases and mannerisms in a notebook containing all the good things he actually wanted to remember.  He didn’t know why it was so important to him but it was and it gave him a great indescribable satisfaction.

“Well in that case,” Bertholdt said resuming the conversation. “I don’t like who I am.”

Annie sipped her iced latte thoughtfully. “Just as I assumed. Then you would like to change some things about you right?” He nodded.

“Maybe you want to be shorter, the way you tower over every human being is kinda intimidating for us shorter folk” Annie said dryly. “Or maybe you want a smaller nose. Jesus really that thing is…noticeable to say the least. Then again I got the same snozz so I’m just being a hypocrite here. Or maybe….It’s not just an appearance thing.” Bertholdt smiled softly at her as if saying that she was getting closer to the mark. 

“Yes. Personality wise you really want to change. Maybe you should stop being so self aware; it’ll actually attract less attention to yourself believe it or not.  This isn’t really a personality issue but, stop sweating so much. Really that’s a turn off for anyone. And you need to be louder too especially when you go to order something or talk in class or-“

“Ok Annie, get to the point,” Bertholdt knew if he didn’t stop her here she would’ve gone on for hours doing nothing but dissing Bertholdt in different ways. He never liked that part of her life lectures. Nevertheless he would endure it (up to a certain point) so she could get her usually true point across.

“Yeah my point is- you need to be assertive. Especially to those who treat you as if you were inferior, to those who treat you as if you were a grain of sand. Those who ignore you.”

Uh-oh. Bertholdt knew she was talking about him. And what perfect timing. He’ll never understand women’s intuition or whatever it was called but he would appreciate it. 

“Yeah about that actually….” He began. “Something’s come up between Reiner and I.”

“I know,” Annie said simply. “You still gotta tell me what it is though.”

“Well it’s somewhat confidential….I’m not sure if I should say to be honest.”

“Did he make you promise not to tell anyone?”

“Kinda…”

“Then fuck it. You don’t have to obey that huge hunk of nothing. He ignored you for 3 months Bertl.”

Bertholdt perked up when Annie said his nickname. She’s never used his nickname with him before- well maybe once or twice during those rare moments where she actually showed genuine concern for him. That alone made Reiner’s “No one has to know” pact null and void. He trusted Annie.  

“Well remember how yesterday…it kinda rained…all day,” he began nervously.

Annie nodded. “Obviously talking to Reiner would lead to nowhere so I decided to do things on my own. I didn’t know what to do at first; everything I tried led to more boredom. The dorm was especially filthy so I decided to tidy it up a bit, hopefully getting some fun out of it while being productive….”

Annie rolled her eyes and sighed audibly. He was doing it again. Every time Bertholdt went to tell a story, he would tend to ramble on and on about the most insignificant parts which only made the probably interesting story a chore to listen to.   Annie recommended him not to be a public speaker of any kind and Bertholdt had no problem agreeing to that.

“Just get to the point,” She finally said. Bertholdt realized he was rambling and quickly skipped ahead.   “I had to clean the living area and the fact that Reiner was just lounging on the couch made it kinda difficult. I asked him several times to move and he refused. He then told me to come closer and closer to him and it made me kinda nervous; I started to sweat profusely again and I internally panicked and-“

“Bertholdt!”

“When I was close enough to him, Reiner kissed me!” 

Bertholdt began his period of excessive sweating again as Annie almost choked on her latte. He hoped he didn’t say that too loud.

After a few moments, Annie regained her composure and said “He did what??”

“He kissed me. On the lips.”

“No shit Sherlock,” She said while wiping her mouth.  “For how long? Was there tongue? Did you kiss back?” 

Bertholdt held his hand out to Annie. “Whoa whoa, slow down a bit! It wasn’t for that long; as soon as I realized that it wasn’t a peck on the lips I pulled away. He tried to stick his tongue in but like I said I pulled away quickly. And I don’t think I kissed back…”

“That’s a dumb answer,” Annie said sternly. “It’s either you did or you didn’t. No-““In betweens,” Bertholdt finished as she nodded.  “Honestly, it happened really quickly- I still don’t know. I haven’t kissed anyone in years; I don’t even think I remember how.”

“If you count that little stint you had for one summer, you’re being ridiculous. You were 10; you didn’t know a thing about love or relationships.  You haven’t kissed anyone passionately before.” Annie always knew how to bring Bertholdt back to reality even though it was usually in a harsh way.

“Well that doesn’t matter here,” Bertholdt said. “I just don’t know how to deal with it. I don’t know how to deal with him.” “Ask him if he’s gay,” Annie said abruptly. Bertholdt smiled a little; for the first time he already did something that Annie suggested.  “He gave me a weird reaction. First he seemed indifferent towards it. Then when I went on he seemed insulted. I still don’t know if he is or not….”

“Well let’s get one thing straight- and it ain’t Reiner. He can’t be straight because at this stage, the only reason a man would kiss another man out of nowhere is if he was drunk. Judging from what you told me, Reiner was as sober as he’ll ever be.” Bertholdt listened attentively to Annie’s analysis. He liked seeing her breakdown a situation piece by piece. He told her on numerous occasions to be a psychologist or a therapist to which she replied with: “But I hate people. Why the fuck would I want to help them?”

“Second,” she continued. “I bet you asked him why he kissed you. Did he give an eligible reason or a bullshit one?”

Bertholdt chuckled. “Bullshit,” he said.  “Typical Reiner,” she sneered. “Well I guess that’s the next step. If you’re willing to go there I mean.” Bertholdt sighed. He did want to know exactly why Reiner did it, but he knew getting an actual response out of him would be like extracting teeth or talking to a brick wall. He just didn’t know if he wanted to or found it necessary to go through all of that. Besides, he said that he wouldn’t do it again. Why was he so hung up on this anyway? He didn’t even like Reiner enough much to care about him that much. Or did he? His head was spinning.

“You don’t know yet huh,” Annie said. Bertholdt shook his head. “I mean, will he tell me?” Annie shrugged. “You gotta be persistent. And maybe a little annoying. He’s a douche bag but he’ll come around.”

Bertholdt nodded and trusted Annie’s words yet again. He didn’t know where he’ll go from here but he decided to not worry too much about it and see what Reiner might do instead. Annie glanced over at the clock and saw it was time for her sociology class. “Well, gotta go. Have fun dealing with the hormonal idiot you call your roommate.”

 She walked out and Bertholdt was left alone again with his many conflicting thoughts.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you guys will like the next chapter :) But what did you think of this one? Comment!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Beerholdt" saves the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter a lottttt

Bertholdt heard the thundering footsteps of the football players marching down the hallway of his dorm. He had enjoyed his peace and quiet while it lasted; now it was going to be interrupted by Reiner and his football cohorts.

Reiner’s friends were an interesting bunch. Four of them were varsity football players and one was the water boy- but he got along just fine with the rest of them. Out of all of them, Bertholdt only liked the water boy, Marco Bodt. He was the only one to acknowledge him when he was there and often made small talk about his day etc. Even though it seemed that Bertholdt was indifferent to these advancements by the freckled boy, he greatly appreciated it, and hoped he continued them.

One possible reason why Marco was so accepted was because he was best friends with the team’s linebacker Jean Kirstein. Jean was similar to Reiner as in he was a giant douche as well. He would often get the whole crew drunk and that led to him talking badly about pretty much everyone on campus. One time he got around to talking about the crew themselves and Reiner got so angry he threw him out. Bertholdt suspected that they still tolerated him because he was rich and through being friends with him, they got some nice perks.

 Jean also bothered Bertholdt because he would often go on rants that made fun of gays. Although he wasn’t homophobic he would cross the line sometimes and it clearly bothered Marco. The ironic thing about it was that there were speculations that Marco and Jean were more than friends and had a side homosexual relationship. Jean however denied every accusation while Marco would leave it up in the air.

Connie Springer and Eren Jaeger rounded out Reiner’s squad. They were in the middle for Bertholdt; sometimes they would be nice and acknowledge him and other times they would part take in Jean’s mocking rants. Eren and Jean had a love hate relationship and when they both were just as drunk fists would fly and nothing but curse words would be heard from their mouths. There seemed to be a love triangle between Jean, Eren and Eren’s adopted sister Mikasa. Despite Eren telling Jean numerous times that he and Mikasa were practically related, Jean would insist that they had a relationship and profess his love for Mikasa. Bertholdt suspected that Jean used his crush on Mikasa to cover up his maybe affair with Marco. It was a complicated situation.

Without a door knock the men barged into the room and headed straight for the couch while Jean went to the kitchen to stock the fridge with beers. Bertholdt was almost caught up in the frenzy and moved to his room as quickly as possible. He would most likely remain there for the rest of the day. Before Bertholdt could retreat to his room, Marco called out to him.

“Hey Bertl! Thought you could escape unnoticed huh? Hehe I got cat like reflexes buddy- you gotta do better than that!” He had called him Bertl. His once unknown nickname was spreading like wildfire and he had no idea why. He didn’t question it however; he actually liked his nickname and when people said it. It was somewhat endearing.

“H-Hey Marco,” he began stuttering a little. “What’s up?”

“Aw same old same old. We didn’t have practice today since the field is still really soggy from all that rain, but we figured that it shouldn’t let us stop us from having fun together ya know?”

Bertholdt nodded. He didn’t agree with Reiner and his friends having their so called fun here in his dorm.  Well technically it was both of theirs but Bertholdt actually took care of it. He wondered why they had to always come here. Why couldn’t they go to a bar- there was one slightly off campus. Besides, they all had fake ID’s anyway (except Jean and Reiner who were already 21). The dorm was small and cramped and besides watching trash on TV and getting buzzed, there really wasn’t much else to do. This was kind of similar to an actual bar.

Marco spoke again to get rid of the awkward silence between them. “How come you always go to your room whenever we come over?  I know we’re a little rowdy and bothersome but I think you’d still have a lot of fun with us!”

“I’m not so sure about that Marco,” Bertholdt said. “I mean, I like you and sorta like Connie and Eren but….”  He stopped there hoping Marco would get the message. “Oh I see. The other two intimidate you, huh?”  Bertholdt nodded again. “Well I suppose you’re kinda used to Reiner, since you’re your roommate, right?”

Bertholdt inwardly chuckled. Poor Marco didn’t know the half of it. “Um, if you count being ignored all the time then yeah I’m used to him,” he said. “Oh…” Marco replied. “I’m sorry you guys haven’t been getting along. But hey, freshman year is awkward! Maybe he’ll open up to you sometime.” Bertholdt respected how optimistic Marco was, but he was a pessimist and usually what Marco said was far from how he saw things.

“I guess,” Bertholdt replied. “Well that takes care of Reiner. Jean on the other hand- he’s a bit much to deal with.” “I can tell,” Bertholdt said with some snide.  “But I love him regardless,” Marco said suddenly. “We’ve been friends for as long as I remember. Heh, he made fun of my freckles a lot. I used to cry whenever he did that but after a while it seemed silly to cry at something so trivial. When he saw that it didn’t bother me anymore he would get mad and that would make me laugh even more. I have no idea how it escalated from there but it did and here we are in college together!” Marco’s eyes gleamed as he recalled how he and Jean became friends.  It almost made Bertholdt feel like he wished he had a best friend still.

“Anyway, Jean just has thick skin. It takes a while for someone to get past it but when you do you have a friend for life. I’m not saying try to get to know him so much so that you can reach that level of friendship with him, but try to tolerate him at least. I know it’s hard but we all have our flaws! I like to see the good in people no matter what.” Bertholdt could not believe a person like Marco could exist.  He was so caring and selfless and tolerant of everyone. He was essentially a freckled male Krista.  Even if he wanted to, Bertholdt could not reject Marco’s request. “I-I guess I’ll stick around for a bit.” Marco’s smile once again lit up his face. “Great,” he exclaimed happily.

*******  


“Yo Marco! You still talking to that beanstalk back there? We about to turn up man and we can’t start without you!” A not even drunken yet Jean called out to Marco, beer in hand. “Why can’t we start though,” Eren said. “Marco doesn’t even drink.”

“Damn it Jaeger you gotta counter everything I say huh,” Jean sneered. “Jesus guys, we didn’t even take a sip yet,” Reiner said. “Could we keep it cool? Bertholdt cleaned this place yesterday and I don’t think he wants to clean it again if you guys trash the place by fighting.” Just as Reiner said this, Bertholdt entered the room, stunned that he mentioned his name.

“OH yeah, I forgot you had a roommate,” Jean remarked. “Well if this place does get trashed, ain’t our fault. It’s practically inevitable since you invited us in the first place.” “You’re such a fucking douche Jean,” Eren mumbled. Jean heard his comment however and stood up angrily. “Jaeger I swear to God, open your bitch mouth again and I will-“ Marco ran into the room quickly and held Jean back as Eren stood up and taunted him.  “Well guess this breaks the record for shortest time Jean and Eren wanted to pound each other,” Connie chuckled. “Guys sit the fuck down! I will kick you out!” Reiner yelled above all the commotion as Bertholdt just stared unbelievably at the scene before him.  He didn’t know if these guys were all best friends or worst enemies.

Eren still taunted Jean however and Reiner turned to Marco desperately to get Jean calm while he worked on Eren. “Jean, Jean calm down ok? You need to be the bigger person in this; if you succumb to Eren’s taunts then nothing good will come out of this and you’ll be just as fault as he is! Ok Jean? Please.” Marco used his calm and soothing voice to get Jean settled. Whenever Jean and Eren were mad, Marco would handle calming Jean down and Reiner and/or Connie would calm Eren down.  Marco was the only person Jean would listen to; Eren was subjective.

Bertholdt had no idea how to handle all of the commotion; it slightly overwhelmed him. He just wanted to retreat back to his sanctuary of a bedroom and read until he fell asleep. As he turned to go back inside, Reiner called out to him.

“Bertholdt! Don’t just stand there! Make yourself useful and help us!”  This was the second time Reiner acknowledged his presence. Bertholt’s head spun once more as he couldn’t comprehend why all of a sudden Reiner paid attention to him. Was that kiss some kind of odd way to break the ice? He wasn’t sure but it was not the time to worry about that. He walked over to all the chaos and stood by Reiner who was still yelling things at Eren. “Ok what do I do now,” he asked quietly. Reiner didn’t reply and kept talking to Eren as Connie held him back. By now Jean was a lot calmer and was just talking to Marco.

Without any direction Bertholdt decided to mention the obvious to Eren. “Look he’s calm now see? You’re just fighting yourself so give up. There’s no point in being mad anymore.” Bertholdt picked up a bottle of beer and held it out to Eren and all of a sudden everyone stopped moving. “Here, wouldn’t this calm you down?”

Eren reached out to Bertholdt, took the beer out of his hand and cracked it open. He then held it up and proclaimed, “Thanks Beertholt- for getting this party started!” He chugged the bottle down and no one said a word for that moment. When Eren was done he collapsed on the couch and sighed happily. “Why not,” Jean said as he opened up another bottle and chugged it like Eren did. Soon Connie followed and Reiner stood there not quite comprehending what had happened. He turned to Bertholdt who had another beer bottle in hand. He tossed it to Reiner who then said “How did you know what to do? You were so calm about it.” Bertholdt shrugged and said “Just drown all your issues in beer. Alcohol numbs the senses for a bit. That’s pretty much all you guys needed.” Reiner thought he sounded almost philosophical but he had only said the most obvious thing. There was nothing but silence between them after that and Bertholdt took that moment to go back into his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEERholdt. Get it. hahahahahanook  
> Anyway hope you guys like this chapter as much as I like typing it! Thanks for reading as always :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No action between these two yet but at least in this chapter they're finally alone heuehuehue (btw I know nothing about physics never took it and never will)

Things got “back to normal” for both Reiner and Bertholdt within a few days.  Reiner went back to watching his trashy TV shows when he got home from a long practice and Bertholdt refocused his thoughts on anatomy, cooking and any novel he read at the time. One thing did change in their daily routine however.  Reiner’s surprise kiss still bothered Bertholdt until he asked himself again why it had bothered him so much. He took Annie’s advice into consideration and decided that he didn’t care that much. He didn’t want to press the matter any further; talking to Reiner never got anywhere anyway.  So he wouldn’t ask about the kiss, not even hint to him that he had any memory of it. If Reiner cared about it then he would say something to Bertholdt. But until he did, Bertholdt swore to ignore it and move on.

Another part of his new resolve was to give Reiner less attention overall. He wasn’t going to talk to him unless absolutely necessary , for instance when he cleaned and Reiner was in the way.  No more good mornings, no more how was practice, and no more goodnights (although he stopped doing that a while ago). He wanted Reiner to feel just as ignored as he did- and he didn’t even feel guilty about it. At least he tried not to.

Bertholdt had no idea if this affected Reiner in any way. His expression was stagnant- always apathetic and lost as if he never knew or didn't care about what was going on. The only time he saw Reiner come alive was while he practiced (he’s watched a couple practices for anatomy homework before) and with his usual crew in their dorm. He had gotten so used to it however; after a while he just gave up on trying. Deciphering Reiner was as tedious and precarious as detonating a bomb.

After two weeks, it rained again. Football practice was cancelled and it was the day before the mid-way cut off of the first semester. Bertholdt took the day to relax; he made a nice hot cup of coffee, got out his favorite book and sat near the window to get lost into the world of middle earth and all its inhabitants.  

Meanwhile a frustrated Reiner struggled to finish his physics report. It was due by the end of the next day and despite the one month he had to complete it, he decided to cram it all the day before it was due. It was painful watching (or hearing) Reiner trying to complete an academic project or homework assignment. He would make an assortment of noises of frustration and take beer breaks on the hour.

Reiner began his project at 1:00 pm. Bertholdt watched with a slight smirk on his face as Reiner tried to type a 10 page paper on his report of physics in football. It was amusing at first but after hearing him groan and complain about it for hours it got annoying. If this was about a month ago, Bertholdt would feel kind of sorry for him and maybe give him a few pointers- he did ace physics after all. But things had changed and the only person Bertholdt felt obligated to help was himself.

He got up to go in his room to finish his book and start another- but then just like the last time it rained, Reiner called out to him.

“Wait, Bertholdt. Um, can you come here for a sec?” Bertholdt turned around and looked at Reiner skeptically. Reiner, who was still turned the opposite way and didn’t face Bertholdt, continued. “I’m not gonna try any funny business. I just need some help with this physics shit.” Bertholdt pondered over Reiner’s request once more. Was this the same cocky, uninterested asshole that attacked his face a month ago? Or was this the real Reiner, who procrastinated and desperately needed help from his intelligent roommate?

“Please Bertl. I promise we’ll only talk about physics….unless you say otherwise.” Bertholdt’s curiosity was now at its peak. Reiner was begging for his help. The fact that he resorted to begging meant something. Annie would not be happy with his choice, but it was _his_ choice after all. With that, Bertholdt walked over to an exhausted Reiner and sat next to him on the couch.

 Reiner only inches away from him, and he saw how disastrous he looked. Droopy eyed, messy hair and just unkempt overall, if anyone saw Reiner this way their image of him being the “perfect male” would automatically be erased from their mind. Still, despite his rather raggedy appearance, Bertholdt still found him attractive- his messy hair especially.  Bertholdt found himself sweating already as this was the closest he’s been to Reiner in weeks. Reiner looked unbothered as usual and stared absentmindedly at the clutter of papers and laptop screen that had an almost blank document opened with a blinking cursor waiting to type words.

The silence between them was deafening; Reiner seemed to have forgotten the reason he called Bertholdt over in the first place because he said nothing to him. Bertholdt sighed noticeably to alleviate some of the silence then finally spoke. “So, what’s your project about?” Reiner twitched a little as if he was shocked to hear Bertholdt speak to him. “Oh right. So we were supposed to connect physics to something we love and I obviously chose football. I used a bunch of these formulas to calculate the height of my passes and lengths of my kicks. I did some for the other guys as well; of course theirs weren’t as impressive as mine.” Bertholdt shook his head with a slight smile. Leave it to Reiner to throw in something narcissistic while explaining physics assignments.

“Anyway, I guess I just have a problem with….trying to get all the information on to ten fucking pages.” He leaned his head back and groaned as he said this and the pity that Bertholdt wanted to hide for Reiner slowly became more evident. “You probably aced physics didn’t you,” Reiner asked suddenly. Bertholdt nodded. “Heh, that’s pretty damn good news for me huh.” He smiled at Bertholdt- the first genuine smile he had ever given him. But Bertholdt was not ready to give into Reiner’s charms just yet. “I’m not going to do it for you, you know,” He began. “I’ll help you organize everything and perhaps a head start but the bulk of the work is yours.”

Another silence followed, but it was broken by Reiner this time whose response was a light chuckle. “C’mon Bertl, I know this thing ain’t yours. This isn’t like old times where you’re all passive as shit and I’m just a lazy bum without a conscience who just watches you do all the work. I figure…we should start new ya know.”

“Start….new…” Bertholdt repeated. “Yeah,” Reiner said nervously while he scratched the back of his head. “I’ve been a dick to you man, I know that. I’m tired of the silence between us. We don’t have to be friends…but let’s not be strangers.” Reiner did not face him but held his hand out to Bertholdt who was still in awe of this sudden change for the better. Bertholdt wanted to ignore him. He wanted to tell him that he’s full of shit and all of this was a ploy to get him to do his work. But the little hope (and possible attraction) he had left for Reiner got in the way as he held out his hand to him in return. “You’re supposed to shake it,” Reiner said eventually.

Bertholdt touched the hand of his once stranger who lived with him now roommate for the first time, mutually and without malice, with a firm shake that cemented their new agreement. He realized that Reiner’s hands were kind of soft and smiled after he let go of them. Reiner finally took a glance at Bertholdt and noticed his face had softened a bit. “Finally, I thought you would never relax!” “Well yes, I guess I have no choice,” Bertholdt replied. “Especially after shaking a hand that’s softer than a pillow. Tell me, Reiner, did you buy ladies moisturizer by mistake?” Right after he had said it, Bertholdt regretted his careless mocking statement. However, Reiner blew it off and laughed right with him.

“And he has a sense of humor too! You’re an array of surprises aren’t you Hoover?” Reiner had surprised him again with another friendly response. He felt himself sweating a little- Reiner was becoming a little friendlier than he had expected and it increased his maybe attraction for him. “ _Don’t fall for him that quickly Hoover,”_ He thought to himself. _“He’s still got a lot more to prove to you first.”_ Still, it would be quite difficult to do so if their conversation continued so Bertholdt decided to get them back on track.

“Well, we better start this thing. And by “we” I mean I’ll help you organize while you type.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it me or is the chapters getting shorter? I don't know but sorry if this one seems to be not as good as the others :\ I wrote it during a bad case of writers block   
> But the next one should be a lot better. Thanks to all that read this and to all those that left a kudos or comment it means a lot!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bertholdt discovers that Reiner is more than meets the eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their friendship grows :)

After working together on the physics project for almost an entire day, it didn’t surprise Bertholdt or Reiner that their relationship wouldn’t be the same. During that relatively short amount of time, Bertholdt had found out more about Reiner than he had learned from observing him from the kitchen for 3, now 4 months. Reiner was originally born in a small town down south but moved to the city before he even reached the age of two.  He discovered his passion for football at an early age and he was featured in newspapers that were published citywide. He was loved by most of the public- but the love he truly needed and longed for from his parents was much to be desired.

“They just kinda gave me stuff ya know,” He explained to Bertholdt. “Never said why, or if I deserved it or not. I was an only child so they just blew all their money on their superstar future football playing son. They thought if they used material possessions to keep me happy, they wouldn’t have to do anything that special and I would keep playing football. But I don’t play it for them- I play it for me.”

In high school, Reiner was extremely popular, as Bertholdt expected. He was not only the star on the field but got involved in community fairs and was the lead role of the school play for his senior year. Bertholdt was expecting Reiner to talk about his relationship with Krista more, but surprisingly he barely mentioned it.

“It must’ve been nice,” Bertholdt said while Reiner still talked about high school. “Being the center of attention. Having everyone love you, and know you by name and face.” Reiner looked at Bertholdt and sighed. “It ain’t all that it’s cracked up to be, Hoover,” He replied.   

“No?” Bertholdt asked doubtfully. “But what about all those friends you had?”

“Probably only had three or four real ones to be honest.”

“And your girlfriend, Krista right?” Reiner’s eyes widened at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. “Wasn’t it nice being with her?”

“Um...yeah,” Reiner said uneasily. “It was nice while it lasted, I suppose. But still I felt something was missing from those four years. I had everything…but the most important thing still wasn’t there.” “And what might that be,” Bertholdt said quietly. Reiner turned to him and said “I still haven’t found it yet. But maybe soon I will…”

The usual silence followed after Reiner spoke but it wasn’t the same awkward silence that they had in the past. This silence was mutual; they both saw it coming and didn’t stop it from happening. Bertholdt took that silence as a time to think. To think about all the things Reiner had told him. Of how wrong he was about him, how he thought he had him all figured out. He was no longer one dimensional to him, and saw him as more than a muscley, popular douche bag. Reiner was still like him when it all came down to it- misunderstood, mislabeled and unheard. Of course it was in different circumstances; Reiner had a chance to speak his mind and people had enough respect for him to listen. But Bertholdt was invisible and only heard by a few people who were just as powerless as he. However Reiner seemed more confused about things- pretty much the only clear thing he saw in his future was football-but for how much longer? Only God knew.

Finally after almost 5 minutes of silence, Reiner asked “Hey how’d you know about Krista anyway? I don’t recall mentioning it before.” “Oh right.” Bertholdt forgot that he mentioned Krista. He intended to find out all the intimate details of their relationship, probably out of some sort of jealously. He was so surprised that Reiner didn’t speak of her at all, and figured he should bring it up instead. “Well a friend of mine told me about you guys. She went to the same high school, obviously. Do you know…..Annie?” He hesitated on saying her name but figured that Annie wouldn’t care if he mentioned her to Reiner. “Annie who,” Reiner replied. “Leonhart. She goes here too, blonde hair, big nose always has the “Fuck you face?” Reiner chuckled at Bertholdt’s description and finally realized who he was talking about. “Ahhh yeah I know her. She’s the only girl who I didn’t see fawning over me at football games or in the halls or anywhere in general.  Don’t tell her this but,” He leaned in closer to Bertholdt as he finished his statement. “I always thought she was kind of cute.”

Bertholdt snickered, not at Reiner but at the thought of him and Annie together. Knowing how much she detested him, it was pretty amusing how he thought she was so innocent and “adorable.” “I could hook you guys up if you want,” Bertholdt said sarcastically. Reiner’s face wasn’t as lighthearted however and he leaned his head down. “Ah, no thanks Bertl,” he mumbled. Bertholdt stopped laughing and noticed how serious Reiner suddenly became. This was normally something he would play along with but Reiner stayed solemn as he stared at the floor. “I-I was joking,” Bertholdt stuttered. “If I have to be honest, Annie has always had a….negative opinion of you.” Once again, Bertholdt spoke without thinking and inwardly cursed at himself for mentioning that Annie really didn’t like him. But Reiner did not react that much and said “Welp, not everyone can like you, ya know? Glad to know that not everyone thinks I’m perfect.”

Bertholdt slowly nodded. _“Wait until Annie finds out about this,”_ he thought.

*******

About another week passed and Reiner and Bertholdt’s “roomateship” was growing. They decided to swap roles one day to see what the other one dealt with on a daily basis. Of course, this did its toll on Reiner, who was so used to sitting on the couch and watching whatever, that doing easy chores like washing dishes and sweeping floors were tiring for the moment he began. But it wasn’t easy for Bertholt either who kept fidgeting in his seat and flicked through all the channels 5 times, and kept wondering how Reiner did this every day. By the end of the day, they decided to split their roles; Bertholdt would stop any unnecessary work to relax on the couch while Reiner would get up every hour to either do chores or just walk around the dorm.

At the end of the day, they were both silent as they went to bed, but mainly because they didn’t know who would say goodnight first. But one night, that soon changed as Bertholdt decided to make the first move. “Goodnight Reiner,” he simply said as he crawled into his bed. Reiner stopped brushing his teeth for a second and smiled. He spat out the remaining toothpaste in his mouth and said just as calmly, “Goodnight Bertholdt.”

By New Years Eve, it was safe to say that to two had gone past being roommates and they were now friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking of combining this chapter with another one but I feel its more effective if I leave it be. What I can say is that after the next chapter, the chapters will get longer.   
> Thanks again for reading, commenting, and those kudos! Love you guys!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bertholdt updates Annie on his relations with Reiner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like writing the relationship between Annie and Bertholdt

The day before New Year’s Eve, Annie and Bertholdt met at the coffee shop. It was the first time they talked in months due to their busy schedules and according to Annie; things were still the same between Bertholdt and Reiner. She hoped the only thing that changed was the way Bertholdt treated Reiner- coldly and nonchalantly. As she walked into the coffee shop she noticed a smiling Bertholdt, who happily waved at her. “ _Since when does he do that,”_ she thought as she apprehensively waved back. She walked over to the table and said “Um ok, I get it’s the holidays and all but, you’re unusually jolly today.” Bertholdt chuckled and said “I am? Huh, well that’s cool. I don’t think I need a reason to, do I?”

Annie raised an eyebrow and gave Bertholdt a strange look. “Don’t bullshit me, you do have a reason and I need to know what it is. Did you get laid or something?” “What? No,” Bertholdt said in disbelief. “Well you are crushing on someone.  I need details Hoover.” She was about to pull out a chair to sit down when Bertholdt said “I got it,” and pulled it out for her as she slowly sat down. “Oh and let me take your coat too, it’s really warm in here,” Annie held out her hand however and stopped Bertholdt before he touched her arm. She stood up angrily and yelled “What the hell is with you? When did you turn into Mr. Gentleman McSunshine?  If you did get laid, I better not be the last to know.” Annie’s voice echoed throughout the coffee shop and everyone starred at both her and Bertholdt. Bertholdt immediately began to sweat and turn red- all this attention got him really nervous.

“A-Annie calm-m down,” he stuttered nervously. When Annie was angry there was no telling what she would do. “Take a seat, p-please.” Annie grabbed the chair from Bertholdt and sat down, still irate over his actions. “I don’t need your chivalry, ok?” “Y-yes,” Bertholdt stammered. “I know that now.”   A tension filled silence rose among the two until Annie decided to find out more about Bertholdt’s sudden euphoria.

“So Hoover, I guess a lot can happen in 2 months. Care to explain?” Bertholdt grinned deviously and acted like he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Explain why I’m happy or what happened in the past 2 months?” Annie pounded her fist on the table. “Tell me, when did you turn into a smart-ass huh? You know what I mean dipshit.”Bertholdt chuckled again and figured it was time to update Annie on his relations with Reiner.  “Well remember what we talked about the last time we were here? Same table too. About Reiner’s sudden kiss and how flustered I was?” Annie nodded. “I figured it had to do with shit for brains Braun. So? What did you do about it?”

“Well for a month I did what you said- I ignored him, gave him a dose of his own medicine.”

“So I guess you weren’t curious enough to find out more about the kiss?”

Bertholdt shrugged. “I guess not. I thought it would be easier that way, you know? But one day, the silence between us was broken.”

“Really,” Annie said. “By?”   
“Well I’ll give you a hint- it wasn’t me.”

“Oh boy, I wonder who else it could have been. There’s no way Braun said something to you. Did he kiss you again or something,” Annie said somewhat sarcastically. “Ha, no not this time. It was about his physics project. He procrastinated and needed help and after some thinking I decided to help him.” Annie kept one eyebrow raises as he continued. “We worked on it practically all day and in that time I guess we bonded and got to know one another. I thought I had him all figured out Annie, but I knew nothing about him.” “Well duh,” she said. “He never told you anything about him so how the hell would you know.” Bertholdt gave her look that said “you know what I mean.” “Long story short, I’d say we’re friends now. We crack jokes with each other, watch each other’s stupid TV shows, and say Goodnight before we go to bed. He’s still got a long way but he’s on the right track.” Annie smirked unbelievably. Reiner’s usual charm was working on Bertholdt. She wondered if she should warn him that this won’t last, but of course she would do it in the typical Annie way.

“So you guys are all good? No bad blood huh? Totally mutual friendship?” Bertholdt slowly nodded. “I think so.” Annie sipped on her hot chocolate and continued. “Well as your actual friend I should let you know that it won’t be too long before Reiner resorts back to himself.” Bertholdt looked alarmed. “What do you mean?” “Reiner does this with a lot of people, and you’re his next target. I don’t know what he wants from you, but to keep this friendship thing going this long, it must be big.” Bertholdt shook his head to ignore Annie. “What, no. You’re just saying that out of spite. Did you know that Reiner actually likes you?”

 Annie’s train of thought derailed as Bertholdt said this. “What the hell do you mean, he likes me? In what way?” “The way that will make you cringe. That will make you shiver. That will make you have nightmares.” Annie became pale as Bertholdt continued. “He thought you were cute in high school. He also doesn’t care that you don’t like him. He actually was relieved to know that not everyone thinks he’s perfect.” Annie wasn’t angry, but more disgusted to hear this. “W-why did you even bring me up in your conversation? He knew who I was? Ugh,” She shoved her beverage away and immediately lost her appetite. A sly smile crept on Bertholdt face once more. Calm, cool and mostly collective Annie was all flustered because Reiner once liked her. More importantly, whatever other negative thing she had to say about Reiner being friends with Bertholdt would be instantaneously forgotten. It felt too real to be some kind of joke.

But for course, Bertholdt soon remembered that Annie has never been wrong and she knew Reiner better than he did. Perhaps his infatuation with Reiner got in the way of seeing what kind of person he really was. Reiner still gave him the cold shoulder from time to time, especially among his friends. In public, he would pretend that he barely knew him. Bertholdt sighed as he was taken back to reality; if he was a true friend, all of this would’ve changed and it hasn’t yet. Maybe he needed more time- but how much was the question.

“I’m leaving.” Bertholdt snapped out of his trance and turned to Annie who stood up and put her coat on. “What, already,” He said. “Was it because of what I said?” “I’m gonna be honest. Yeah, partially. But also because you’re so caught up in Loopy-in-love-land with Braun that you aren’t open to what I have to say. So fine, I’ll give you some time to see the real Reiner. When you’re ready to talk again you know my number.”

And she left the coffee shop with those words weighing on Bertholdt’s mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK welp I can promise you the next chapter will be longer than this one! Thanks for reading, commenting and all those kudos!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bertholdt and Reiner go out together for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favorite chapter so far

The next day was New Year’s Eve. With all classes cancelled most people went home to their families but some felt that there was nothing to go back to and stayed on campus for the New Years parties and wild nights to ring in the New Year with a bang. This also meant Jean’s annual New Year’s Eve party – his first and last party of his for the year. Usually it would be at his house, but since he no longer had that and his dorm was way too small he reserved a sorority house slightly off campus to celebrate.

As usual, Reiner and his squad were the immediate VIP’s as they had out their outfits picked a month in advance. Each had a different goal for ringing in the New Year; Jean wanted to be right in the middle of a threesome by midnight, Eren wanted to start body shots, Connie wanted to finish a 30 pound burger by midnight, and Marco (being the most cautious of them all) wanted nothing more than to pop open the first bottle of champagne. As for Reiner, he wanted to kiss someone new for the New Year. For the past 3 years, He’s kissed Krista and now in order to move past her for sure, he wanted someone different someone who won’t remind him of her at all. He didn’t want a drunken kiss however since he wanted it to be passionate and not sloppy and desperate. So he vowed to limit his alcohol consumption for the night.

Mostly everyone on campus was invited to the party- mostly. Bertholdt was not one of them however and had no idea how the ring in the New Year. Not like it mattered to him. He didn’t get the point of New Year’s anyway- sure it was a time to start over and begin New Year fresh leaving the burdens of the previous year behind- but why do it getting drunk and partying all night? Deep down, he was glad he wasn’t invited. As if he wanted to be surrounded by a mix of aged and underage drinkers anyways.

One thing did bother him a little bit however; the fact that Reiner was invited and was going. That meant that Bertholdt would be alone in his dorm watching the ball drop on TV like a loser. He could invite Annie of course but it probably wouldn’t be any different. Annie wasn’t the type of person to hang out with. She was always serious, sardonic and would bring any good mood down. Despite this Bertholdt still overlooked those qualities and focused on why he was her friend in the first place- to get good advice and company when he needed it. They needed each other since he needed guidance and she needed someone to bitch her advice to.

An hour before the party, Reiner stepped out his room all dressed up and dapper. Bertholdt was reading in his usual spot when Reiner asked playfully “So does this outfit make me look fat?” Bertholdt looked up for a moment just to glance and go back into the world of his book- but after seeing Reiner he ended up putting the book down entirely. There before him stood Reiner in the fanciest he’s ever seen him. He wore a seemingly designer suit and tie that framed his muscular body well. It showed off all the curves on his chest and abs as well as arm muscles. His pants did just the same- showed off all his muscles and brought Bertholdt’s wandering eyes down to his crotch. “ _It’s big,”_ he thought. Dirty thoughts filled his mind as Reiner noticed that he was starring a little too long.

“Yo, Bertl you alive?” Bertholdt shook his head out of the filthy thoughts and smiled warmly at Reiner. He hoped that he didn’t notice where he was starring and that he was sweating more and more by the minute. “U-um Yeah, I mean no it doesn’t. You look slimming,” he sputtered. He felt like a pervert for thinking that way about his friend. Still it was hard to do considering how much his outfit showed. Reiner was probably looking for more than a kiss tonight, he figured. “Heh, slimming isn’t something you would say to a guy with this kind of a body,” Reiner replied heartily. He flexed his muscles as he showed off to Bertholdt. Bertholdt giggled at Reiner’s narcissistic actions. “I’ve seen bigger,” He said cleverly.  Reiner faked a frown and Bertholdt laughed even more. Too bad they couldn’t spend the entire night together. But soon that was about to change.

“So you like cracking jokes at me huh,” Reiner began. Bertholdt shrugged. “Guilty pleasure I suppose.” Reiner smiled. “I mean I guess you can crack more on our way to the party.” Bertholdt’s face became blank as he said this. “Wait, what party,” he asked quietly.

“Only the biggest one on campus,” Reiner said. “Jean’s! The one I’m going to as well as the majority of the people here.” Bertholdt’s blank face gained emotion as he realized that Reiner was being serious. “Reiner I can’t, I-I wasn’t invited.”

“Well I’m inviting you,” He said almost forcefully. “You aren’t gonna spend New Year’s alone, I won’t allow it. You deserve to let loose and have fun man, and I’m gonna give you that chance if Jean can’t.” Bertholdt starred in disbelief; there’s no way Reiner would invite him to Jean’s party if he didn’t see him as some sort of friend. Annie was just being cynical as always. But then again was this part of the act? “Damn Jean, I can’t believe he didn’t do what I told him to and what he promised,” Reiner said to himself. “Did what,” Bertholdt replied.

“Bertl I told Jean to invite you a couple days ago and he said he would. But as usual, I got my hopes up for nothing.” Reiner looked genuinely disappointed by this. Did he really care that much? “Well you know what they say, if you want something done gotta do it yourself, right? How bout it Hoover? I’ll make it easier for you- I won’t take no for an answer.”

Bertholdt’s thoughts were mixed up and he didn’t know what to believe anymore. He wanted to believe that Reiner was inviting him out of the goodness of his heart and for the sake of their friendship.  But he also wanted to heed Annie’s warnings, knowing that she’s never been wrong about anything. It was so overwhelming to him- until he realized that this wasn’t something to make a big deal about. All Reiner was doing was inviting him to a party. They weren’t gonna be alone or anything so there wasn’t really much he could do and get away with it. Besides, once he did go, he would just stick with Marco most of the time that way he wouldn’t look so clingy to Reiner anyway but could still observe him.

Finally after a minute of internal struggle, Bertholdt made a choice. “I’ll go get dressed,” he said.

*****

The party was in full swing by the time Reiner and Bertholdt arrived. From the moment he walked in Bertholdt was greeted with a huge whiff of alcohol and sweaty dancing young adults already horny and making out in every corner. This only made him sweat more than he already had; the fact that Reiner was right by his side this whole time made him more wary of his actions and what he said. Reiner tried to lighten the mood between them as they walked there but Bertholdt’s nervousness took over and mumbled all his words which led to him saying one worded answers or giggling nervously.  

“Well,” Reiner began after he and Bertholdt surveyed their surroundings. “Let loose and have fun buddy. I’m gonna find the crew real quick. Why don’t you scout out Marco? You guys are pretty close.” Bertholdt noticed that Reiner knew that Marco was practically his only friend from his group and took a sigh of relief that he didn’t force him to meet new people. Still, he didn’t want to venture the hoard of gyrating young adults alone and instinctively clinged onto Reiner.  Reiner was surprised and turned around to face Bertholdt.

“U-uh,” Bertholdt stuttered. “S-s-Sorry Reiner, b-but I don’t really wanna, I mean could you maybe, um-“ Reiner held out his hand to Bertholdt, seeing that he was overwhelmed by the mass of people. “I gotchu buddy. Here goes the Marco express!” Reiner smiled wide at his sweaty friend who nervously giggled again. They went together, Bertholdt tailing Reiner, across the dance floor towards the bar where Marco was happily serving drinks.

“Yo Marco!” Reiner waved at the freckled boy as he smiled back at him. “Reiner, I’m so glad you made it!”

 “Pssh, are you kidding, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“And I see you brought another guest,” Marco said as he pointed behind Reiner. Bertholdt emerged slowly from behind the safety of Reiner’s back and waved shyly at Marco. “He’s so cute,” Marco squealed. Reiner blushed a little after Marco said this and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, and he’s kind of new at all this party stuff so show him the ropes and make him feel comfortable, alright?” Marco nodded and proclaimed “Don’t worry Bertl- You’re in good hands!” Bertholdt felt a little more relieved now that he was with someone he knew.  All those times he wished that Marco would go away and leave him alone were soon forgotten. He was ready to accept Marco as one more friend.

With that, Reiner left to see his other friends and Marco and Bertholdt were alone- well excluding the many people around them. Jean spotted Marco talking to Bertholdt from the other side of the room and became sort of alarmed since he looked like he was really enjoying Bertholdt’s company. Connie and Eren noticed this and snickered quietly- but not quietly enough for Jean not to notice.

“What do you shitheads think is so funny, huh,” he snarled at them. “Oh, us nothing really. We just think it’s cute,” Connie said innocently.  “Yeah it’s cute how you keep using your crush on Mikasa to distract us from your real crush on Freckles over there,” Eren added. Jean became enraged by Eren’s words as usual and held up a fist at him. “You know what I think is gonna be cute? Your face after I punch it 7 times!” He was about to swing when Reiner showed up just in time.

“Woo Reiner, you got perfect timing huh,” Connie remarked.  Reiner wasn’t smiling as he was and Connie backed away slowly. “Well I’m just gonna chill with Sasha. Probably start on that 30 pound burger.” He scurried away as Reiner turned to Eren and Jean, who both starred guilty at the ground. “Look I’m not here to chastise you both ok? It’s not like I want a fight here but it’s your party Jean, do what you want. I just don’t know if you wanna spend your first moments of the New Year fisting Eren.” “Fuck you Braun,” Jean said with a sarcastic smile.  “As if you knew what fisting meant.”  “You should know,” Eren mumbled but as usual Jean shot him a deadly look and Eren became silent.

“Anyway,” Jean began. “Who’d invited beanstalk cause I know I didn’t.” Reiner became somewhat angry that he acknowledged Bertholdt like that and said “Really? I thought you were supposed to you know like I told you to a couple days ago? But I guess you forgot so I decided to invite him myself.” Jean chuckled and replied “Since when did I give you the authority to invite strangers to my party?”

“Strangers?  You consider him a stranger,” Reiner said, surprised. “Half of the people here are strangers Jean! Bertholdt is my roommate ok? He’s no stranger.” “When did you start giving a shit about him all of a sudden,” Jean said skeptically. Reiner paused as he tried to think of an answer but blanked out.  Jean smiled deviously and said “Well can’t kick him out now. But I doubt he’ll last the night. This is the first time he’s ever come to a party like that where there’s more that 5 people. He probably can’t hold down his drinks either. Only a matter of time until he cracks.” Reiner said nothing and just starred angrily at Jean as he smiled and walked away, probably to begin rounding up people for his threesome.

Meanwhile, only 15 minutes until midnight, Bertholdt and Marco were having the time of their lives. But not without the assistance of alcohol; Marco noticed how jittery Bertholdt was when he got there and offered him a few drinks to calm him down. It worked for a while- until Bertholdt wanted more. He drank one too many and not being an experienced drinker stumbled and bumbled about slurring his words and cursing repeatedly.

He was about to take another shot when Marco said “Ok, Bertl I think you’ve had your fill. Sorry bud, but there’s got to be limits here and I think you hit it a while ago!”  “Butf comfe on Macro,” Bertholdt sputtered. “Iths only one moar, how badf coulth it be?” “You don’t wanna find out,” he said and pulled the shots away from him. “Look I know you aren’t in the best state of mind right now, but do you know what you wanna do to start the new year,” Marco said with his eyes gleaming. “All I want to do is have the honor of opening the first bottle of champagne. It’s been a family tradition and I want to continue it with my college family.”

Bertholdt was only half listening as he scanned the room for Reiner. Now that he wasn’t in control of his actions, he did whatever his drunken mind told him to- in this case he wanted to feel Reiner. He looked incredibly good in his suit, now just shirt and tie since he took off the jacket since it was too hot. He found him on the other side of the room sitting on a bar stool. Reiner only waited midnight for his passionate non-Krista kiss. “Bertholdt!” Marco’s voice brought Bertholdt out his Reiner filled mind for a moment and back to him. “What the fuck do you want,” He said, not with malice but with pure drunkenness. “How do you wanna ring in the New Year,” he asked again.

“Oh, That.” Bertholdt looked to the sky is if his answer was there then banged his fist on the table when he found the answer. “I wanna…..do something to Reiner….” His words trailed off as he got up from the bar stool. “What,” Marco said, fearing what Bertholdt might do in his delusional state. He tried to escape from the bar but people flooded around it again ordering a mix of complicated drinks.

It was only minutes before midnight and everyone was getting ready to start the New Year the way they wanted. Eren set up a table for body shots, Jean got his threesome ready, Connie was halfway through devouring his burger (with Sasha’s help), Marco got out his bottle of champagne, Reiner waited on his bar stool and Bertholdt, drunk, horny and completely out of any control of his actions, slowly approached Reiner as if he was stalking his prey. “THREE MORE MINTUES,” the crowd yelled and Reiner became alarmed. Who was he going to kiss? He thought sitting on the stool would eventually attract a willing bystander but no one got the message apparently. He scratched his head as he surveyed everyone around him- but none looked like any takers.  He was getting desperate. So desperate that he would kiss anyone within a five foot radius, even if they were kind of drunk. His desperate wishes were heard as Bertholdt stumbled his way towards Reiner almost knocking over stools and people on his way.

About a minute left. The ball began to drop as people began the countdown. Reiner stood up to catch Bertholdt who was about to fall in his arms. Reiner took a whiff of the tall man and realized he was as drunk as he’s ever been. But at the same time he didn’t look all that bad. Kind of- kissable.

Bertholdt’s mind was a haze but one thing was sure, he’s never wanted Reiner more than now, in this moment. He began to move his hands around, stroking his chest and moving down to his waist. He kept eye contact with Reiner this entire time as he was slouched in his arms. Reiner became mesmerized by the tall man’s movements and didn’t move as he reached around to his crotch. His lanky fingers stroked his hardening dick and he gasped slightly. Maybe this was what he wanted.  It didn’t remind him of Krista- that’s for sure.

Only seconds remained now from 10 all the way to when everyone yelled “ONE!” The ball dropped at the stroke of midnight. The champagne bottle popped. Yells came from the room Jean and the other two threesome members were in. People began drinking from Eren’s body. Connie was on the verge of throwing up. And two roommates, now friends were in engaged in a heated kiss, that none of them expected but both of them enjoyed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo it was slightly longer yesssss ~  
> But they kiss again, not a romantic on but still  
> Happy 4th of July guys, and thanks for reading/commenting/ and the kudos!

**Author's Note:**

> So yeahhh that happened. sorry if it seems a bit rushed but trust me every action has a purpose. You'll see.  
> Thanks for reading! Chapter 2 is coming soon!


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